Today is the observed first day of summer, though the real first day of summer is not for weeks, so we thought we’d pull into port and join all the Memorial Day celebrations.  We’ll start with the serious stuff and get silly from there.

The official origins of Memorial Day are sketchy, but it basically started in the 1860s when people wanted to honor and remember those who gave their lives in the Civil War.  After World War I, it changed to honor all who died in any war.  And it became an official federal holiday (in the US) by an act of Congress in 1971.  So, might I suggest, between the hot dogs and the belly flops, take a moment to remember those who have fought and died for our freedom.  And those who will die today, and tomorrow, and the next day.

We cherish too, the Poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led,
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies.

-         Moina Michael

Now onto the silly stuff.  Here’s what the crew will be doing on shore leave.  *Note: these are true testimonies of the Pirates herein and I take no responsibility for their accuracy or debauchery.

The Captain will be depleting her alcohol stores: cold beer in the fridge, rum behind the bookcase, and wine given to her by a faculty member with the title “Grad-zilla Eraser”. She is going to do her damnedest to erase the Grad-zillas she’s had to put up with the last few weeks and think of new and creative ways to stop doing folders.

In honor of our fallen heroes, Gunner Marnee will also be drinking alcohol, though probably something girlie, like whiskey or tequila.  She will also be stuffing herself with her fair share of salads and burgers in their honor, attempting to wrangle her son, and keep her adult cool when the teenagers next door set off fireworks at ungodly hours, as they are wont to do during holidays of patriotic classification.
 
Beyond that, she would like to write her sex scene as she’d expect her characters are sexually frustrated at this point and she almost feels bad about stringing them on in this fashion.  Almost. (editor’s note: love that whiskey is considered a girlie drink.)

Powder Monkey Lisa will be celebrating L’il Pirate Chad’s birthday with an inflatable party and 30 kids. She will need Valium in the worst way:) PM will also be cooking out on Monday and doing the usual placing of flowers on relatives graves. (editor’s note: bonus points for Lisa.)

Quarter Master Sin’s got nothing. She could make up something really awesome and people would believe it, like roasting said kittens Hellion was saving (inside joke – just go with it) and selling them as kabobs to hungry orphans. But that would seem rather mean. Just a little bit.

Honorary Pirate Queen and Whip Wielder Dee will be relaxing, watching Blockbuster movies and WRITING. (editor’s note: no need to show off.)

And I, Bo’sun Terrio, am leaving my options open.  I’m pretty sure there will be time spent at the community pool (where I will be hiding far from the water’s edge pretending to write) and lots of sleeping.  Did I mention sleeping?

It’s your turn.  What are you doing today?  And contrary to what’s written above, don’t be surprised if most of us just end up playing online today.  Or sleeping.

I’m a blog addict.  I freely admit it.  Besides having my own personal blog and being responsible for two days a week on this one, I visit way more blogs than I should on a daily basis.  Well, weekdays anyway.  This addiction has its pros and cons. 

We’ll start with the cons.  All the time I spend reading and commenting on blogs takes away from time doing actual work.  Lucky for me, my company is pretty laid back and I manage to get by.  The time I spend on blogs also distracts me from the writing.  Though if we’re being honest, everything distracts me from the writing.

Now we move to the pros.  I’ve met some incredible people through these blogs.  Published and As Yet Unpublished (as the Banditas call it) authors alike, they are all amazing, inspiring, and entertaining.  I’ve picked up tips about writing, plotting, networking and promoting.  And I’ve found laughs when I really needed them.  But maybe the best pro of all is the prizes.  I’ve won loads of books, few of which I need, but many of which I never would have picked up on my own.  So I’ve had my horizons broadened even if I’ve had my shelves overwhelmed.

But the prizes are not always books.  A couple of weeks ago I won a t-shirt from Christie Craig and last week I won something even better.  I won a critique from a published author.  Romance Bandit Loucinda McGary is going to critique part of my WIP.  Hence, my hyperventilating.

I’ve gone through a litany of emotions since finding out.  The Captain can tell you of my raving mad emails.  I mean, I’m not ready for this.  My stuff isn’t ready for this.  What if she reads it and realizes I’m a total fraud?! *ducks the various rum bottles hurled at my head*

But I’m feeling better about things since I’ve had time to process them.  Though I’m not sure how hard it’s going to be to hit that send button when the moment arrives, I will do it. And I’m kind of excited about it.  I’ve put my heart into this story, I’ve gotten good feedback and I think she’s going to like it.  Plus, she can give me important pointers that will make the story that much better.

How do you feel about showing your work to others?  Have you put it out there only to have your heart broken by what you got back?  Have you entered contests and sent out submissions getting lots of compliments and positive feedback?  Or do you guard every word with your life, still not ready to let it fly on its own?  If you don’t let it leave the nest, you’ll never know how far it can go.

With my lifestyle, I often feel out of control.  I’m always juggling a half dozen things while trying to stay up on a rolling log.  With a life like that, it’s not easy to feel stable nevermind feel in control.  What I have to do from time to time is stop everything and figure out where I am.

This also applies to writing.  Whether you’re a plotter, a pantser, a plantser or a writer with the perfect process, you still have to take a breath from time to time and figure out where you are.  This weekend, an email from a friend *cough*captain*cough* reminded me I was in desperate need of figuring out where I am in this writing thing.

Where I am is 73 pages into a 300-something page book that has been going around in my head for more than a year and been restarted twice.  I have two great characters who have only just begun the journey to their HEA and constantly bug the crap out of me to stop ignoring them. 

I have a heroine who wants more out of life, but doesn’t like quick change.  She likes to ease into things slowly, always with a back up plan in place.  She’s really going to hate me.

I have a hero who has taken a major blow in his personal life and has decided to focus all of his energy on his career as a chef.  The last thing he wants is any distractions, especially a woman complicating things.  He’s really going to hate me.

What I have is a book in desperate need of being written, a story in desperate need of being told, and a home in desperate need of a maid.  Since I have four other stories waiting not-so-patiently in the back of my mind, I’d better give up on the maid thing (although I could so find room for Christian the Cleaning Boy) and get to the storytelling. 

Where are you?  Are you struggling along trying to figure out who your characters are and what they want?  Are you drowning in revisions and hating life right now?  Or are you sending that beautiful MS out there into the world hoping someone will snap it up?  If you’re a reader, do you have trouble fitting those books into your busy schedule or do you figure those dirty dishes can wait until morning?

Those are the words that popped into my email inbox last week.  If that isn’t an omen I don’t know what is.  See, I came into this writing thing a bit earlier than some but much later than most.  And to make matters worse, one year before deciding to write romance, I went back to college.  Not the best timing in the world, but in my life that’s pretty typical.

So in 2007 I really threw myself into this writing thing.  Joined RWA National and my local chapter.  Enrolled in some ecourses and attended some workshops.  Attended my first conference, entered my first contest and started blogging.  After all that, I should at least have a rough first draft, right?  Wrong.

While I was spending a great deal of time and money on the craft of writing, the writing went to the back burner.  But I’ve finally given myself permission not to feel guilty about that.  You see, life is messy.  And random.  And unpredictable.  But most of all, if we’re lucky, life is long and doing things in a hurry isn’t always the answer.

It’s not that I want to publish my first book after 50, but publishing my first book after 40 (which is much closer than I’d like) is not the end of the world.  Right now, I’m taking one day at a time, making some of the best friends I’ll ever have, and writing a story that makes me smile, albeit slowly.  Right now, that’s enough.

Did you come to writing a bit late?  Do you feel pressure to publish right away or are you giving yourself a chance to enjoy the ride?  How have you fit writing into your life and still managed to have a life?  Have you set a “getting published” deadline for yourself?

Oh, and here’s a little tidbit from the article for inspiration…

“And take inspiration from the Bangladeshi writer Nirad Chaudhuri. His first book, The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian, was published in 1951, when he was 54 years old. Its sequel hit the market in 1988, when he was 90. And his final book, Three Horsemen of the New Apocalypse, was published in 1997—when he was 100.”